In a new interview with Bangor, Maine’s Bangor Daily News, Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott discusses the band’s longevity.

“If you catch people at a certain age and don’t mess up, you can keep them forever. Like Bowie had me forever. Mott The Hoople had me forever. Queen, T. Rex - all these bands that I caught when I was 12 or 13. You know, they were my bands. And all you can hope for is that we were the same for the generation down from us and that we were one of the bands that they clinged on to,” Elliott said.

“The fact that we’ve actually managed to stay together without beating the crap out of each other is miraculous,” he says with a laugh. “We’ve had plenty of things put in our way. It gives you perspective. When your first guitarist is kind of sacked, or asked to leave, because he has an enormous drinking problem, your other guitarist eventually dies of [an addiction], and your drummer, in between, loses an arm… those kinds of things that would split lesser bands, or lesser incidents that would split even better bands - we don’t really take them as seriously as most people would, because when you’ve had those obstacles, they kind of pull you together and give you perspective. We’re really fortunate that we’ve been on the same page, pretty much every day since we’ve been together. We’ve wanted to be as positive and uplifting as we can and make music that makes people smile.”

Read the complete interview at Bangor Daily News.

Def Leppard's US Summer Tour is underway, storming across all parts of the US and Canada (tour routing below). A new tour trailer video can be seen below:

In addition to the tour, Def Leppard will be performing on Good Morning America on June 21st.

Def Leppard - Joe Elliott (vocals), Vivian Campbell (guitar), Phil Collen (guitar), Rick "Sav" Savage (bass) and Rick Allen (drums) - continues to be one of the most important forces in rock music. With 100 million records sold worldwide and two prestigious Diamond Awards to their credit, the group's spectacular concerts, filled with powerful melodic rock anthems, continue to sell out venues worldwide. For the past thirty years the band's epic live shows and arsenal of hits have become synonymous with their name, leading Def Leppard to be heralded as an institution in both the music and touring industry.

Def Leppard's influential career includes numerous hit singles and ground-breaking multi-platinum release's-including two of the best-selling albums of all time, Pyromania and Hysteria. The band's 2015 US tour was one of the year's highest grossing, hitting 70+ cities nationwide. In addition to the tour, Def Leppard debuted their self titled new album in October 2015. The album secured the #1 slot on Billboard's Top Rock Albums chart. It features the #1 Classic Rock chart single "Let's Go" and their new single "Dangerous" out now.

Tour dates:

June
22 - Boston, MA - Xfinity Center
24 - Bangor, ME - Darling's Waterfront
25 - Quebec City, QC - Videotron Centre
27 - Syracuse, NY - Lakeview Amp
29 - Hershey, PA - Hershey Park Stadium

July
1 - Indianapolis, IN - Klipsch Music Center
2 - Chicago, IL - Hollywood Casino
5 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center
6 - Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest
8 - Pittsburgh, PA - First Niagara Pavillion
9 - Grand Rapids, MI - Van Andel Arena
11 - Wantagh, NY - Nikon at Jones Beach
13 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
15 - Detroit, MI - DTE Music Theatre
16 - Toronto, ON - Molson Canadian Amphitheater

August
6 - Madison, WI - Alliant Energy Center
8 - Evansille, IN - Ford Center
10 - Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Center
12 - Atlanta, GA - Aaron's Amphitheater
13 - Raleigh, NC - Walnut Creek Amphitheater
15 - Tampa, FL - MidFlorida Credit Amphitheater
17 - Birmingham, AL - Oak Mountain Amphitheater
19 - Austin, TX - Austin 360
20 - New Orleans, LA - Smoothie King Center
22 - Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Pavilion
24 - Dallas, TX - Gexa Energy Pavilion
26 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
27 - ST. Louis, MO - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
29 - Cleveland, OH - Blossom Music Center
31 - Darien Center, NY - Darien Lake PAC

September
14 - Billings, MT - Metra Park
16 - Salk Lake City, UT - USANA Ampitheater
17 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
19 - Albuquerque, NM - Isleta Amphitheater
20 - Phoenix, AZ - Ak-Chin Pavilion
22 - Irvine, CA - Irvine Meadows Amphitheater
24 - Sacramento, CA - Toyota Amphitheater (no Tesla)
25 - Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheater
28 - Boise, ID - Taco Bell Arena
30 - Eugene, OR - Matthew Knight Arena

October
1 - Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Dome
4 - Omaha,NE - CenturyLink Center
5 - Minneapolis, MN - Xcel Center
7 - La Crosse, WI - La Crosse Center Arena
8 - Toledo, OH - Huntington Center
10 - Cedar Rapids, IA - U.S. Cellular Center